DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER Date : 07/25/2015 Duedate: 08/07/2015 NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA DM-93 TURN-434 This Weeks Top Honors THE DUELMASTER IS SAJAN PUPPET LORDS (1675) (93-9772) [6-3-0,62] Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader POSITION IS EMPTY SAJAN PUPPET LORDS (1675) (93-9772) [6-3-0,62] Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite SAJAN NOT ENOUGH PUPPET LORDS (1675) BASH BROS LEFTOVERS (1685) (93-9772) [6-3-0,62] (93-9834) [2-1-0,17] THE CURRENT TOP TEAM BASH BROS LEFTOVERS (1685) TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team 1. PUPPET LORDS (1675) 19 2. RAINBOW BRIGADE (1674) 18 THE NEST (286) 3. BASH BROS LEFTOVERS (1685) 15 Unchartered Team 4. FARM ANIMALS (1682) 14 5. SUICIDE SQUAD (1683) 1BASH BROS LEFTOVERS (1685) The Top Teams Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K 1/ 1*BASH BROS LEFTOVE (1685) 12 3 0 80.0 1/ 2*BASH BROS LEFTOVE (1685) 12 3 0 2/ 2*FARM ANIMALS (1682) 8 6 1 57.1 2/ 1*PUPPET LORDS (1675) 10 5 0 3/ 3*PUPPET LORDS (1675) 23 22 1 51.1 3/ 3*FARM ANIMALS (1682) 8 6 1 4/ 4*RAINBOW BRIGADE (1674) 8 22 1 26.7 4/ 4*RAINBOW BRIGADE (1674) 5 7 0 5- 5*KRAKEN'S DEN (1681) 1 4 0 20.0 5- 5*KRAKEN'S DEN (1681) 1 4 0 6/ 0*SUICIDE SQUAD (1683) 0 1 0 0.0 6/ 0*SUICIDE SQUAD (1683) 0 1 0 7- 6*GUARDIANS (303) 0 1 0 0.0 7- 6*GUARDIANS (303) 0 1 0 '*' Unchartered team '-' Team did not fight this turn (###) Avoid teams by their Team Id ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank TEAM SPOTLIGHT HOW'S THIS D2 THING ACTUALLY WORK? D2, the game of Duelmasters, is just plain fun. It is so good that there has even been a published book written about it! It must be great, then! Do you want to have the fun and pleasures that hundreds of other managers before you have experienced? Can't blame you! I have been enjoying Duelmasters-to-D2 for nearly 30 years. Perhaps this article will assist or simplify your introduction to this game and speed up your enjoyment process. It goes something like this: ACQUIRE A D2 ROLL UPS sheet from RSI. (Reality Simulations Inc., P.O. Box 22400, Tempe AZ 85285-2400, 480-967-7979) The first sheet/team is free. Subsequent teams cost $5. Later, after your introductory 10 turns in the Noblish Island (DM93) arena, you can transfer your starting team to another arena, or you may find you even want to start up a new team/s in other arenas, or both. Actually, you can start new teams any time, even while going through your learning process in DM93; but you may want to "learn the ropes" first. FILL OUT THE ROLL UPS and send the sheet to RSI. Other than the normal personal information, the most important things to decide are: Team name, Manager Name, and 5 individual warrior designs. Let's discuss each of those briefly. Team name and manager name can be anything you like that fits you. (RSI will edit inappropriate naming.) They can be gladiator driven, silly ideas, great play on words, or whatever. The warrior names can be closely tied to the team name, or not. My very first team was: Bulldogs, manager Kennelworth, and names like Tiger Lily, Sir Smythe, Wild Wayne, and Flash. A team I admire in the game is Azure Clouds, manager Slugbait, warrior names like Black Bile, Violent Orange, Blue Note. We could spend hours and hours on warrior designs, (Where to place the 14 points on the fixed 70 points and what style to choose?) and there are many articles available examining design, so I will offer only a few basic comments: * Offensive styles are easier to learn for a newbie. (Or anyone, for that matter) * Gender does not matter at all in the fight process. * Generally, fast & quick or brawny & strong rule the day. I said generally. * WT and WL are the most important stats. * There are reasons to design to odd numbers. (Exclude CN from that statement.) * Read newsletters and other RSI info, especially DM93 for design reviews. You have received your 5 warrior profiles. Time to fill out DUEL II STRATEGY FORMS and send them in to RSI. "Goodness!" you say; "I wish I had a lot more information about weapons and strategies and what the warrior profile means, and..." Here are a list of places and methods for getting additional info: "Phone a friend." Diplo, e mail, call, write, etc., beg from other players, especially experienced players in the game. "Put on your newbie outfit." Ask RSI, or better yet, diplo the teachers/coaches in Noblish Island (DM93) the "starter's arena" and ask for information provided there. If you are already in Noblish Island, ask RSI to to make sure you get the CIC or "fact sheets". "Go electronic." The best information in the game is available at reality.com/dm, or terrablood.com, or even try chatzy.com/42003746228981 as DMers chat there from appx 9AM to 2AM EST. and they seem to welcome inexperienced questions. So back to the strategy sheets. One for each warrior you plan to fight. Write legibly! You would be very disappointed to have a code inputted improperly because your scribbles were not so discernible. The basic stuff like warrior name and ID, or game # and account # don't need discussion. But weapon selection, strategy, armor and challenging do. Weapon choice is your chance to select a best weapon against the opponent's probable armor. Bigger weapons are probably needed against heavy armor. Some weapons do especially well against certain armor types. (Hmmm; that information mentioned earlier would help.) The most common weapon arrangements are a single primary weapon and a small backup primary for offensive types, and a primary/secondary (secondary could be a shield) and zero to two backups for defensives/finesse warriors. Strategy is more difficult to decide. Offensives usually start "hot and heavy" and then slow down, as they will wear down/tire due to weight being carried and a high activity level Defensives tend to run moderately, but current arena defensive warriors can be found fighting anywhere from "hot and heavy" to very slow. The desperation strategy is important, because if your warrior is nearing defeat or exhaustion, you may want to do something different in a last-ditch effort to pull out the win. Armor is really a matter of preference, but like every other choice in the game, there are trade-offs. Heavy armor, while providing more protection, can slow down and wear down warriors. Naked or light armor may be less restricting and faster but offers little protection. It is easy to think, "I need lots of armor", but over encumbering a warrior greatly impacts (diminishes) his fighting ability. Training is simple. The most common training is "skills", but stats can be and are trained also. In general the amount of skills learned is based on your WT (the higher the better), but it is also impacted by the knowledge of the warriors you fight. (And other things) Stat training is very highly dependent on WL, as the odds of getting a first stat train of a stat type are 5% times the WL. (E.g. a WL of 15 = 5%x15 or 75% chance.) There can be a luck roll impact also in almost everything that occurs in Duel 2. Attempting to get a 2nd stat raise in a certain stat is halved. (E.g. a WL of 15 = 5%x15x 0.5 = 37.5%) Challenging and avoiding are very strategic components of the game. There are quite a few managers who do not challenge or avoid or both. You can use that to your best advantage. Challenge warriors (the warrior ID number) and avoid teams. (The team ID number.) Several points about challenging/avoiding): 1. Challenging and avoiding do not work until after the warrior has fought his/her first fight in the arena. 2. Challenge warriors or styles you think you can beat, or who will teach you well, or to attempt to advance in the rankings. 3. Avoid those teams who have warriors that can probably beat you, or who are likely to challenge you. 4. Remember: challenge warrior ID numbers (not names) and avoid team numbers (not names) 5. Some arenas, usually Andorian, frown on down-challenging. (Usually defined as challenging someone with fewer recognition points that oneself.) Beware of the arena environment, history, and politics. You have the option to use an alternate "special strategy" either (or both) when you challenge someone, or when someone challenges you. You can use this alternate to prepare a specific strategy for that challenge you just made, or surprising an opponent who will likely challenge or blood feud you. To use these alternatives, "x" the proper box or boxes and fill out the strategy info on the back of the strategy form. This alternative strategy will not be used unless the conditions you selected occur. That was easy, wasn't it!? After sending in your strategy sheets, (in plenty of time for the due date--or last minute via fax; no internet submittals allowed) the computer utilizes everyone's' inputs and the fights proceed. A few days after the arena run date, the actual fights and arena newsletter will arrive in your mailbox. Before submitting the new warrior strategies for the next round of fights, there is much a manager can/should examine and review. Here are generic things that this old- time manager evaluates: 1. Have I collected/recorded all the information I want from the fight so I can access it quickly? (Ed Sullivan and his Consortium cronies record this for every fight: opponent's name, stable, arena and ID number, size, handedness, record, style, armor, and weapons plus my warrior's train results, armor, weapons, swing info (criticals/swings/extra value hits). W or L, how many minutes, recognition points, and political point status- if any. Also recorded are who, if anyone challenged. This is manually recorded on a sheet with my warrior's name, ID, and size, handedness, plus style. 2. Did each warrior fight as I expected from the strategy? Do I need to adjust or change any strategies? 3. Did any warrior act over encumbered or tire faster than I thought? Do I need to adjust strategies, armor, or weapons? 4. Did each warrior fight well with the weapon? (e.g., hit when he swung and had critical hits--which are strongly stated weapon hit statements compared to the norm) Do I need to change weapon selections? 5. Did another warrior out jump me when I did not expect it? Do I need to adjust strategies or weapons? 6. Did the warriors learn what I expected and learn well? (e.g., earn lots of skills) If not, what can I do about it? (Switch to learning stats/skills? Challenge a very experienced warrior?) 7. Do I know anything about the arena warriors that I can challenge? (Have I and my friends accumulated style and other information on opponents?) Should I challenge or take the luck of the draw? (Remember: challenge warrior #'s.) 8. Likewise, is there someone within range I just do not want to fight? (A warrior that has beaten me? A warrior with lots more experience than me? A team that has my number? Should I avoid the team with that warrior? (Remember: avoid team #'s) 9. Have I written some personal ads or a spotlight to add to the enjoyment of the arena? Then it is time to turn in those strategy sheets again! Duel 2 is a game of gladiators, comprised of knowledge, strategy, and a little luck. Above all, it is fun. See you on the sands! -- Friendly, Consortium affiliated ***---------*---------*---------*---------**---------*---------*---------*---------*** Basics of Strategy, part 3 Hybrids, (not including tank offensives): Let's assume you've designed a great hybrid warrior, who has skills in all the right places and the right mix of physicals for his style. There is not a 'catch all' strategy for these warriors. In fact, one of the things that makes hybrids so hard to run (even after you have the right design) is that not all hybrids respond the same to the same strategy. Offensive Effort is the 'easiest' number to decide on. Find what works for your warrior and stick with it. Most hybrids operate best on the favorite Offensive Effort. You can find other articles talking about favorites and what is likely for your warrior. While usually avoiding 1-2 is adviseable, I've seen scum and parry ripostes do nasty things at 1-2 offensive effort. Activity Level is tougher. Higher is often better and it often won't hurt your warrior to run at 10 AL. It makes your warrior move around, helping dodge and your willingness to strike, but 10 AL will burn endurance fast and probably hurts parry. For a Lunger with lots and lots of endurance, I highly recommend 10 AL. For a Parry Striker that isn't learning defense skills, maybe not so much. Once again, if you can find a number that works well, go with it. Assur starts most of his hybrids at 5-10 AL and works from there. All that said, you might opt to run your hybrid differently in different minutes. My comments above are assuming you are expecting a short fight (which is usually the case). For a hybrid with high parry, you might go with a parry strategy minute 1 and slowly wake up in minutes 2 and 3. For a lunger hybrid, you might opt for very high numbers in minute 1, then go with some endurance conserving strategy in later minutes. Work with your warrior and style and his strengths and weaknesses. And use your challenges, avoids, and your alternate strategy to mix it up a bit. Armor: DO NOT OVER ENCUMBER YOUR HYBRID!!! One popular formula for determining your carry ability without penalties is to add your Strength to the lesser of Strength/Constitution and subtract 6. This is the number of points your warrior can carry. After you've determined the max you want to carry, that helps you decide your armor/weapons. For higher dodge, Assur recommends ARM or lower, even if you can carry more, in most fights. Weapons: Feel free to try and find your favorite weapon, but most of Assur's warriors use the best weapon they can use given their stats. SC, BS, BA, LO are all great choices if you can use them and highly recommended. For basic strategy, it is tough to go wrong with those weapons. I am going to skip the counter strategy section against hybrids. 1) Different hybrids fight differently 2) It is pretty rare to find yourself against an unbeatable hybrid 3) Most of the time, it is combination of skills and luck that will determine the outcome of these fights. If you do find yourself sharing an arena with one of the few hybrids that appears to wipe the arena sands with anyone they face, I recommend avoiding that warrior. These warriors are special and often look really mediocre until they get on the sands. SPY REPORT It is I, Novgorodny Vir, Spymaster of Spymasters. Look on my work, ye mighty, and despair! Nothing is certain in NOBLISH ISLAND, with changing loyalties, changing Duelmasters. Write this down: new top team--BASH BROS LEFTOVERS. PUPPET LORDS had cause to celebrate, after TRAICA got 12 points by beating AMBITIOUS GUARD. Win some, lose some. Speaking of which, TOO MANY was winsome, after beating MOCKINGBIRD and seeing her lose 5 points. Our Duelmaster has lost, folks, lost to CONVICTED ASSASSIN, BUT SAJAN is still the Duelmaster because he has the most recognition points! So who was the warrior seen charging into immovable walls and challenging dead trees? Someone's got a basic problem... So much to report, so little time! Like a horde of jackals fleeing from the lion, so did the "warriors" in NOBLISH ISLAND avoid PUPPET LORDS. As a woman of good breeding scorns the "warriors" of FARM ANIMALS, so did that sorry team shy from PUPPET LORDS Is it charming personality? Conversational abilities? Good oral hygiene? Whatever it is, MOLDY is the most challenged warrior. The moving sword slashes, and having slashed, moves on... Questions are being raised about the disposing of severed body parts in the arena. A certain tavern in NOBLISH ISLAND would I avoid! All good things must come to an end. More important duties call me. Can anything compare to the pleasure of writing Spyreports for NOBLISH ISLAND? On that giddy note I take my leave-- Novgorodny Vir DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME SAJAN 9772 6 3 0 62 PUPPET LORDS (1675) CHALLENGER ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME VALEROS 9770 5 4 0 60 PUPPET LORDS (1675) ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME TRAICA 9773 4 5 0 41 PUPPET LORDS (1675) PRETTY KITTY 9815 3 0 1 35 FARM ANIMALS (1682) CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME PLOW HORSE 9816 3 0 0 24 FARM ANIMALS (1682) INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME BELLINOS 9802 4 1 1 23 PUPPET LORDS (1675) MEAT STORM 9828 2 0 0 20 RAINBOW BRIGADE (1674) SOMEONE ELSE ATE 9833 2 1 0 19 BASH BROS LEFTOVERS (1685) TOO MANY 9832 3 0 0 18 BASH BROS LEFTOVERS (1685) RINDRA 9769 4 5 0 17 PUPPET LORDS (1675) NOT ENOUGH 9834 2 1 0 17 BASH BROS LEFTOVERS (1685) MOLDY 9830 3 0 0 14 BASH BROS LEFTOVERS (1685) -AUTUMNBE 9643 3 2 0 12 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657) MYSTERIOUS 9831 2 1 0 11 BASH BROS LEFTOVERS (1685) LUSTFUL TRAMP 9829 1 1 0 11 RAINBOW BRIGADE (1674) HAWAIIAN SHADOW 9765 1 6 0 9 RAINBOW BRIGADE (1674) MOCKINGBIRD 9814 1 2 0 8 FARM ANIMALS (1682) -DRAXXUS 9644 1 4 0 7 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657) -SPICULUS 9808 1 0 0 6 KRAKEN'S DEN (1681) ROOSTER 9813 1 2 0 5 FARM ANIMALS (1682) -SEARRUS 9645 0 4 0 4 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657) -PERSEPHONE 9642 0 4 0 4 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657) -AGRISEL 9646 0 4 0 4 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657) BUTCHER'S HAND 9827 0 2 0 2 RAINBOW BRIGADE (1674) FAT COW 9812 0 2 0 2 FARM ANIMALS (1682) -APOLLA 1682 0 1 0 1 GUARDIANS (303) -TETRAITES 9809 0 1 0 1 KRAKEN'S DEN (1681) -ATTILIUS 9810 0 1 0 1 KRAKEN'S DEN (1681) -PRISCUS 9807 0 1 0 1 KRAKEN'S DEN (1681) ACHILLES 9819 0 1 0 1 SUICIDE SQUAD (1683) INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME -CARPOPHORUS 9811 0 1 0 1 KRAKEN'S DEN (1681) '-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn. THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge? SUGAR BELLY 9766 1 3 0 RAINBOW BRIGADE 1674 BELLINOS 9802 431 REVENGED TIGER MOTHER 9767 3 4 1 RAINBOW BRIGADE 1674 PRETTY KITTY 9815 434 PERSONAL ADS Assur, a salute on your 8-2 start. You are killing my crops, you winner, you! Also, it is quite an embarrassment when all five of one's warriors are on the least ten popular fighter list. (sigh) No wonder I took up farming. -- Friendly Farmer Not Enough, yes it WAS enough! -- Rooster Meat Storm, I thought, for a minute there, you were leading me to the butcher. You fought well, winner. -- Fat Cow NPCs, thank you for being there for us. -- Mockingbird, Pretty Kitty, and Plow Horse. Noblish Islanders, writing personal ads is part of the "experience" of D2. Write. At least, ask Assur and me questions. -- Friendly Farmer, Consortium Affiliated Sajan -- Well done on the way you held the throne! -- Assur Farmer -- I guess you farmers are used to farm wives that cook every meal. -- Assur Apologies for my other opponents. No wisdom for you this week, but I will leave you with a farm joke. -- Assur What farm animal keeps the best time? (A watch dog) LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS HAWAIIAN SHADOW was bested by BELLINOS in a 3 minute bloody Bloodfeud fight. ROOSTER was unbelievably bested by MOLDY in a 2 minute beginner's Challenge battle. MEAT STORM defeated RINDRA in a crowd pleasing 1 minute Challenge duel. PLOW HORSE bested NOT ENOUGH in a exciting 4 minute novice's Challenge fight. SAJAN was bested by CONVICTED ASSASSIN in a 1 minute Title brawl. VALEROS vanquished AMBITIOUS GUARD in a 1 minute mismatched fight. TRAICA savagely defeated AMBITIOUS GUARD in a crowd pleasing 1 minute gory brawl. PRETTY KITTY put to death TIGER MOTHER in a 1 minute gruesome melee. FAT COW was vanquished by LUSTFUL TRAMP in a 1 minute one-sided duel. MOCKINGBIRD lost to TOO MANY in a 2 minute novice's duel. BUTCHER'S HAND was luckily beaten by SOMEONE ELSE ATE in a 2 minute beginner's match. MYSTERIOUS savagely defeated ACHILLES in a 3 minute bloody novice's match. BATTLE REPORT MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS |FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT| |SLASHING ATTACK 5 WALL OF STEEL 4 - 0 - 0 100 | |BASHING ATTACK 4 TOTAL PARRY 16 - 2 - 0 89 | |AIMED BLOW 3 PARRY-LUNGE 10 - 4 - 2 71 | |LUNGING ATTACK 2 BASHING ATTACK 32 - 28 - 1 53 | |STRIKING ATTACK 2 AIMED BLOW 14 - 15 - 1 48 | |PARRY-RIPOSTE 2 LUNGING ATTACK 14 - 16 - 0 47 | |PARRY-LUNGE 1 SLASHING ATTACK 10 - 12 - 0 45 | |TOTAL PARRY 1 STRIKING ATTACK 22 - 28 - 2 44 | |WALL OF STEEL 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 6 - 15 - 0 29 | |PARRY-STRIKE 0 PARRY-STRIKE 1 - 3 - 0 25 | Turn 434 was great if you Not so great if you used The fighting styles of the used the fighting styles: the fighting styles: top eleven warriors are: PARRY-LUNGE 1 - 0 SLASHING ATTACK 2 - 3 3 BASHING ATTACK TOTAL PARRY 1 - 0 AIMED BLOW 1 - 2 2 STRIKING ATTACK WALL OF STEEL 1 - 0 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 0 2 SLASHING ATTACK BASHING ATTACK 3 - 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 - 2 1 LUNGING ATTACK LUNGING ATTACK 1 - 1 1 TOTAL PARRY STRIKING ATTACK 1 - 1 1 WALL OF STEEL 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME STRIKING ATTACK SAJAN 9772 6 3 0 62 PUPPET LORDS (1675) SLASHING ATTACK VALEROS 9770 5 4 0 60 PUPPET LORDS (1675) BASHING ATTACK PRETTY KITTY 9815 3 0 1 35 FARM ANIMALS (1682) Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above. The overall popularity leader is SAJAN 9772. The most popular warrior this turn was NOT ENOUGH 9834. The ten other most popular fighters were BELLINOS 9802, HAWAIIAN SHADOW 9765, TRAICA 9773, BUTCHER'S HAND 9827, MYSTERIOUS 9831, ROOSTER 9813, MOLDY 9830, MEAT STORM 9828, MOCKINGBIRD 9814, and TOO MANY 9832. The least popular fighter this week was ACHILLES 9819. The other ten least popular fighters were FAT COW 9812, TIGER MOTHER 9767, SAJAN 9772, PLOW HORSE 9816, RINDRA 9769, SOMEONE ELSE ATE 9833, LUSTFUL TRAMP 9829, PRETTY KITTY 9815, VALEROS 9770, and TOO MANY 9832. Top Ten Reasons Why Duelmasters is better than Sex 10. When you spend money on Duelmasters, you know you're going to get return on your investment. 9. One arena won't get jealous when you start playing in another. 8. With the right tourney prize, you can design your own warrior. 7. If you make it to AD, they tell you your warrior's favorites. 6. You can always DA and get another roll-up. 5. The more experience you get, the less likely you are to die. 4. SZ, CN and Charisma are less important in Duelmasters. 3. Most mangers are satisfied with two minute fights. 2. Warriors do as they're told, even if it means using ALE and a WF. And the number one reason.......... 1. You don't have to hold your turn for an hour after you're finished reading it. Composed by the Jester and Predator THE ULTIMATE AIMED BLOW Oh no, not another aimed blow, you think, they always lose and have a tendency to die if they meet the right person. But I can promise you that this fighter will give you a lot of wins. Not a 20-0-? record, but a respectable one. Let's have a look at the stats: THE BEST: IF YOU CAN FIND IT: TOO BIG: TOO FAST: THE MUTANT: ST: 9 ST: 9 ST: 9 ST: 9 ST: 7 CN: 15 +/- CN: 14 CN: 14 CN: 15 CN: 15 SZ: 3 - 5 SZ: 3 SZ: 6 - 9 SZ: 3 - 5 SZ: 3 WT: 19 +/- WT: 21 WT: 17 + WT: 19 WT: 13 - 15 WL: 18 +/- WL: 19 WL: 17 + WL: 18 WL: 13 - 15 SP: 3 - 5 SP: 3 SP: 3 - 6 SP: 4 - 9 SP: 15 + DF: 15 +/- DF: 15 DF: 15 DF: 13 DF: 15 + ST: So you can use some weapons. CN: So you can stand some damage, and get at least good endurance. SZ: The smaller the better. WT: You need to be smart, and it helps a lot on stats and skills training. WL: Helps you stand even more damage. It also helps a lot on stats and skills training. SP: The slower the better, but needs to be trained to avoid clumsiness. It doesn't matter if this stat is low, you will hit when you want to hit. DF: Gives you the response to other's actions, and gives you the initiative when you need it. The main weakness of this little fellow seems to be his speed, but this disadvantage is made good by his small size. He will dodge nearly anything, and what hits him doesn't matter because of his constitution. The strategy is all up to each manager, but I prefer to run mine like this: Weapons: Epee vs. Light Armor Short Spear vs. Medium Armor Shortsword vs. Heavy Armor Shield: Medium Shield vs. Light and Heavy Armor Armor: Depends on who I am challenging Helm: Full helm Strategy 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th+ Desp. Offensive Effort 5 5 5 6 5 4 2 Activity Level 5 6 6 6 5 5 4 Kill Desire 4 4 5 6 6 4 2 Attack Location: Head or Chest Defend Location: Body or Head Offensive and Defensive tactics are something I seldom use. Challenging is very important when running an aimed blow. Try to challenge big, unarmored fighters. Train strength, speed, and deftness. Well, that's all, for now. Try it and send me a diplo note if you have any comments on my aimed blow. Brought to you by Manimal, Manager of Cowards Guild, DM-31. May victory by yours (or mine.) Aimed Blows My Way Okay, so it's a pretentious title. No more so than anyone else's, what with all these "the perfect" this and "the perfect" that; what I'm going to show you here is several different ways to make aimed blows and win with them. There is no one specific way to make an aimed blow. You'll hear a lot of managers claim that they "HAVE" to have a 21 DF in order to be any good at all. Well, that's a trifle exaggerated. It's NICE to have a 21 DF. This will increase your attack rating, and give you a certain boost. But it isn't necessary for a good, solid, long-term aimed blow. I'm going to give several examples of aimed blows, both how-tos and how-not-tos. All the aimed blows represented here actually fight on one of my stables, so I did this all by hit-and-miss. Unlike some managers, I don't believe that the first, third, and fifth rules of aimed blows is "they die." It's only the third rule. <grin> Now then. Design: ST: Any, really. You can go low, since aims can handle daggers and open hand just fine. CN: Again, any. A little more can help them take a hit, but if they're lucky, they'll do all right even if they can't. SZ: Any. This is a versatile style. Big ones do great. Little ones do great. WT: I'm going to surprise you, here. Anything. Yep, anything. Best is 11-21, of course. WL: Again. Any. Honest! An aim can do without will and can also use it to its best advantage. But from here on is where you've got to pay attention. SP: LOW. Keep it below 9 if possible. Below 7 is better. DF: HIGH. 21 is always best, but 17 works okay, too. So now you have a rollup with a low speed and a high deftness and it doesn't look like much else. You've got a good aimed blow. Yes! Examples of "do" design aims: 1) 7-5-12-21-11-7-21 2) 11-16-6-21-9-4-17 3) 10-15-6-17-9-6-21 4) 13-9-5-17-17-6-17 5) 11-5-10-11-21-5-21 6) 8-10-9-17-15-4-21 7) 5-10-7-17-17-11-17 8) 12-12-7-21-9-6-17 9) 7-11-8-11-21-5-21 10) 9-14-8-15-17-4-17 Ten is a good, round number. 1-4 are Immortal. All have winning records. Most of them beat lungers in one minute. The low-con ones have the most trouble, because they can't take a hit--if they get hit, they go down. Fortunately, that's only killed a few of mine (the dead ones I won't list just now, since it's so depressing). Examples of "don't" design aims, unless you're as insane as me or much more experienced in your aimed blow running: 1) 17-5-5-11-17-9-21 (beat the DA three times before he was killed--he gets a special place at #1) 2) 13-8-12-11-11-18-11 3) 11-12-6-21-13-8-13 4) 11-12-12-17-11-4-17 5) 12-7-18-13-13-5-16 (my first) 6) 11-14-7-9-17-9-17 7) 9-11-9-17-11-10-17 There's certainly more "don'ts" than dos, but those are ones I actually have played somewhere; 2-5 are immortal, with usually 50% records except for the 11 DF (who is in permanent retirement). He came along early in my aimed blow career, when I was making EVERY rollup into an aimed blow to see for myself what worked and what didn't. That didn't. Some of the mortal ones I'm still running, and they do well enough, but as I said, until you get a little experience there are some things you may not want to try unless, like me, you want to see what happens for yourself. <grin> Now for strategy. This is probably the most important thing you'll give your aim. Weapons: Scimitar, unless they don't have the strength for it, in which case, dual daggers. Longsword is next, then fists, then quarterstaff. You need an 11 ST for longsword, so that's probably not always realistic. If your aim likes to fight with his fists, you can let him, but I'd advise waiting until he's got some experience, and you know your opponent isn't much on armor and parrying, because you can do yourself some serious damage on the parries. Quarterstaff is a two-handed weapon, so bear that in mind if you use it. Armor: Keep it light, no more than ARM/H, and then only if you're worried about your opponent. An aimed blow is a fast, offensive warrior--don't load him down. Strategy: 10 8 8 6 6 6 10 10 2 2 1 1 1 10 1 --------------------------------------------------------- > LL --------------------------------------------------------- > HE --------------------------------------------------------- > D That's a good, all-purpose, general strategy. Some aims will want to play around with it, and you let them--see what they like. But, and this is VERY important: keep that KD low! An aimed blow relies on his control and his accuracy, and higher KDs will cause them to lose a lot of that. If you're bloodthirsty, change the attack location to the head. I recommend the legs for knockdowns. Either way, your aim will attack THAT LOCATION, over and over again, until he has defeated his opponent, and very decisively, from total parries (the classic aimed blow opponent) to lungers (the classic aimed blow enemy). Remember: the aimed blow is an OFFENSIVE style. He has some finesse, but he is a brutal and efficient warrior. Keep him in control; he'll win. You can also play with desperation, but for me just dropping the first minute tactic often works just fine. As for the use of decise, as always, it's up to the manager, but decise will help keep your aim from "standing around looking for an opening" in the first minute. Get him moving. As always, experiment, find what works for you, and have fun. Raf Lord Protector Ivory League Manager of Tex's Rangers (51, 100, 101), Assassins (40, 105), Impressionists (27, 105), The Damned (30, 105, 101, 102), etc. The Mechanics of Death By Sir Jessie Jest Greetings, joy and happiness to everyone! This article discusses the mechanics involved when a warrior dies in combat. It will give the reader a better knowledge of how a warrior actually gets killed in combat. Here is how a warrior dies... The Facts) ...in fact, get out a dead warrior's last fight so you can follow me. To start the process of death, a warrior must first fail to make a death roll. Let's say the death roll is 20 or less out of 100 to fail that roll for this example. There are 2 ways a warrior can be forced to make that Death Roll. 1. The vitals roll. 2. The second is when you run out of hit points, which is called the "infirmary roll." The vitals roll -- every time a warrior gets hit in a vital area you make a vitals roll. Lets say that you fail on a 1-15% out of 100. If you get hit in the head, chest, or abdomen, you will roll the vitals percent. If you roll 15 or less you must make the death roll to determine if the warrior was killed. Now look at the fight with your dead warrior on it...look for the death intent statement, it will say something like, "Trying to make this into a death match, or seeks death of his opponent, etc. etc." (there are a lot of them) that is telling you that your warrior was forced to make a death roll. Now comes the scary part: if you fail the death roll your warrior dies. But the program does not kill you immediately because you still have hit points left. So what happens next is that you will get normal attacks and damages that hit your character automatically in the vitals until yours hit points run out. Then it will say your warrior is dead. Remember that it will be normal hits to the vitals, not crits or extra damage remarks. If your warrior dodges, crit attacks , parries, has extra damage remarks or anything else EXCEPT a normal hit to the vitals, the sentence following right after the death intent statement comes up, then he made his death roll successfully and the fight continues. You can have many death intent statements come up in one fight, depending on the number of times you hit a vital. You won't get one every time, only when you fail the vitals roll. And your warrior will have to roll the death roll every time you fail the vitals roll to see if he is killed or not. EXAMPLE: INFERNO leaps to his left! INFERNO's scimitar lunges with awesome cutting power! NULN takes an upper body hit! NULN is badly hurt! NULN is becoming FRANTIC!!!! INFERNO's scimitar lunges with awesome cutting power! NULN is struck on the left rib cage! What a devastating attack!! NULN is dangerously stunned! INFERNO is trying to make this a death match----(Death Intent) INFERNO slashes an attack with his scimitar---(Normal Attack) NULN is struck on the side of the HEAD!---(Vital Hit) INFERNO slashes with his scimitar NULN is wounded in the upper chest. INFERNO slashes with his scimitar NULN is hit in the forehead! NULN curses the gods in frustration! NULN falls LIFELESS to the ground! INFERNO has won the duel! INFERNO laughs and says, "What a loser!" As you see, if you fail the vitals roll, and then fail the death roll, you will get normal attacks to the vital areas until all of your warrior's hit points are gone. All of your dead warriors that have died from DEATH INTENT statements will have those three things... death intent statement, then normal attack, then hits to the vitals until all hit points are gone. Then you will get some sort of, "falls over dead statement." In the past, if you failed the death intent statement roll, the program would just skip all the stuff that was in between the death intent statement and the falls over dead statement. It would say something like this: INFERNO seeks the death of his opponent NULN falls to the ground lifeless INFERNO has won the duel. But they changed it to make death more dramatic. The second way your warrior is forced to make a death roll is if your warrior runs out of hit points during or after the fight has ended. This roll is called the infirmary roll and can happen in or out of combat, and does not matter where your warrior gets hit. If your warrior has taken many hits, that reduces his hit point total below the preset percentage... lets say it 5% of your total hit points... then he will make an infirmary roll. If you fail the infirmary roll, you then make the death roll to determine if your warrior has died. In combat, you will read that you died from serious wounds or something to that effect. After a fight is over, the program checks to see if your warrior has fallen below that preset percentage of hit points, if you have, you will make an infirmary roll. If you fail the infirmary roll, an infirmary statement will appear at the bottom of your fight letting you know if your warrior failed the death roll that comes after that. Sometimes you can die in combat without a death intent statement that comes up during the battle . This is a good example of an infirmary roll failure in combat from low hit points, triggering the death roll which actually is the roll that kills your warrior. In some battles you can get hit several times in the vitals, have several death intent statements come up, make every roll successfully and still die from lack of hit points (i.e.: fail the infirmary roll). A simple way to think of this is the 2 ways are : 1. vitals roll, which deals with getting hit in the head, chest, or abs and dying when a death intent statement comes up. Or # 2. infirmary roll, which deals with dying from lack of hit points, and does not use the death intent statement. I'd say about 90% of all deaths are by death intent statement because of a failed vitals roll. Only a small percentage die from the infirmary roll in or out of combat. Well, that's it. These are facts, not theories. You can check this out with all your dead warriors, and you will learn there are NO exceptions. Those percentages I used up there are just made up, I have no way of knowing what they really are. Now I have formed theory regarding KD or kill desire. I do not believe KD has anything to do with a warrior dying, but is rather a tool to determine your warrior's aggressiveness in combat. In other words the timing of his blows, his shot selection, and other such things. For example: The higher the KD the wilder he is with his shots, and easier to feint, dodge, parry and riposte. Some styles like Abs (Aimed Blows) fight better with a 1 KD because they are very selective with their shots. Most of the other offensive styles function well between 5-7 KD. Any more than that is just a waste of endurance and has a negative effect on your warrior's performance in battle, in my opinion. Well that's it for now. If you would like to chat sometime drop me a diplo at Jessie's Kids in DM 60 (yes, I've come out of retirement) ;) May the axe fall in your favor! Cheerio! Sir Jessie Jest, Lord of Puns, and Master of Laughter. Troll-Bred Bashers The Bashing attack is not, as many of you may have noticed, one of the dominant styles in Duelmasters. There are two reasons for this; one of which I will cover here, the other I will cover in an accompanying article. I will preface this article on Bashing attack design and strategy by saying that I have been playing Duelmasters for two years, and I have spent most of this time experimenting with and perfecting the Bashing Attack. In my opinion, a Basher needs to possess a monumentally high attack percentage, with decisiveness and initiative not far behind. What follows is designed to achieve the desired results. Let's get right down to business. First, the stats: PERFECT ST: 13-17 15 CN: 3-5 3 SZ: 6-9 6 WT: 17-21 21 WL: 17-21 21 SP: 5-9 5 DF: 11-15 13 Here's why: Strength is arguably the most important attribute for a basher. A basher with a high strength can virtually be assured of a reasonably high attack. however, excess strength takes away points from other vital areas and, as you will see, this Basher will not want for attack. A 13 strength gives the Basher most of the good Bashing weapons. Constitution is absolutely unimportant to any offensive styles warrior. Bashers, and for that matter, offensives in general, should be designed to dish out damage, not absorb it. If you are designing a Basher to absorb damage, then you are designing him wrong. Size is an attribute that this game system does not handle well. As we all know, too large a size means that you do not have enough points to allocate to the other attributes. You would think logically that a Basher would need a large size. I am not talking about logic. I am talking about winning within the parameters of this game system. I give a minimum size of 6 since this is the smallest size that can achieve "great damage with a blow." Wit, in my opinion, is the most important attribute for every style. This is strictly my opinion and you do not have to agree with me. Where Bashers are concerned however, a Basher without very high wit is garbage. High wit will greatly effect a Basher's initial attack, decisiveness, and initiative. My research has led me to the conclusion that a Basher's initiative is primarily a function of wit. high wit also ensures that the Basher will train consistently. Also, a Basher with a high wit can expect an initial initiative rating somewhere in the 50-60% range. Note that speed is also a modifier for initiative. Will is another attribute that the Basher cannot do without. Will affects a Basher's attack and decisiveness, and is responsible for, in conjunction with strength, giving the Basher normal endurance, despite the pitifully low constitution. Speed has almost no affect on a basher. I have seen many high speed Bashers, and I can tell with 100% certainty that Bashers do not derive strong benefit from speed. Slasher, strikers, and to a lesser extent, Lungers, all derive noticeable benefit from speed. I am not saying that a 5 speed Basher will be equally as fast (initially) as a 19 speed Basher, but I am saying that a Basher can derive greater benefit by placing points in other areas. This Basher will drive his decisiveness from the high wit/will combinations: 21-21-5; 19-19-7; 17-17-9. These combinations, or something similar, will generate an initial decisiveness rating of about 50%. Deftness is very important to a Basher. The strength/wit/will/deftness combination is where this Basher will generate the awesome attack percentage and his attacking precision. A Basher with the aforementioned minimums in strength/wit/will/deftness can expect to achieve an initial attack rating between 60- 80%. A 13 deftness will also allow the use of my favorite weapon, the morning star. In the hands of a Basher, this is a devastating weapon. Now that you know how to design a Basher, here's how they should be run. This strategy should be used vs. offensive styled warriors: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Desp 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 3 3 3 3 3 10 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE D B D The offensive effort is self-explanatory. If you are not trying to destroy your opponent, then you should not be running a Basher. The activity level requires some explanation. Bashers, as you might expect, perform better with a low activity level. This is because the Bashing attack style is a series of overhand, overpowering blows which are designed to deliver maximum hitting power. Running around like a decapitated chicken would appear to be counterproductive. Here is the key. The 10 activity level in minute one is designed to help you get the jump on another offensive warrior. If you do get the jump, you will win. Even if you are hurting the Basher's attack percentage, how many offensive warriors do you know of that will be able to parry or dodge this Basher's attack? NONE. Therefore, the 10 activity level in minute one is justified. The decisiveness tactic in minute one is also there to help you get the first shot off. Assuming you get the jump in minute one and the fight somehow manages to make it into minute two, that's where the bash tactic comes in. You enter minute two with the initiative, land a bash modified head shot into the poor slob in front of you, and down he goes!!! Minutes 3-6 are basically superfluous as not many fights will go that far. 10-3-7 allows the basher to do what he does best. The theory behind the desperation configuration is the same as that for minute one. Since the bashing attack is a downward motion, attacking the head is logical to say the least. Modify this to the chest if you suspect that you adversary is protecting his head. Defending your head is simply there to ensure that you hold your hands up high. My reasoning is that I am simply trying not to interfere with the Basher's attack, as opposed to seriously trying to defend myself. Against defensive warriors, change minute one to 10-3-7 with no tactics: i.e., let the basher do what he does best. I have only lost one fight to a defensive styled warrior with my best basher, and that was MY fault. Minute two can be left the same, or you can drop the bash tactic. I am tempted to leave the desperation minute the same. If you are desperate, it probably means you were just hit. This design cannot take getting hit. You need to go berserk in order to regain the initiative. A high quality Basher should have no trouble with Parry-XYZ's and TPs. Against scum try 7-1-7 with the bash tactic. You should have no trouble blasting attacks through the feeble parries of a scum warrior, and the relatively slow (for a basher) tempo will allow you to keep it up for 3-4 minutes, which WILL be more than enough time to demolish even the most stubborn APA, F, ME, ME 1-1-1-P Total Parry. Let me also mention that the bash tactic should never be used against PRs. Last, but by no means least, is what to wear. Armor should be APL, ALE, or none at all. DO NOT strap this basher into a suit of plate armor. The Bashing Attack, despite what some other managers say (even those self-proclaimed "highly experienced" manager who relentlessly brag about their 600+ winning percentages who only run defensives, SCUM, and lungers) is a quick style. The armor should be correspondingly light to allow the basher to get the jump on his opponent. The same theory applies to weapon selection. Try using the QS, MS, of the WH. The GA and MA should only be used against slower offensives of defensive styled warriors. Again, the key here is quickness. THIS basher is designed to win his fights, with his tremendous attack percentage, not with his tremendous damage bonus. This article has been brought to you by..... Mark Schwartz 280 Middlesex Road aka Troll King Matawan, NJ 07747 mgr. Troll Lords 201-583-5150 Arena #36 Jhans HOW TO BUILD A BETTER WARRIOR (version Y2k) I'm sure that by now everyone has had enough of those "perfect" warrior advice articles. And, while they are useful to a point, it's hard to apply their advice to the hordes of non-perfect warriors we get every day. Hence, this article is for the other 99% non-perfect warriors. The design ideas presented here have been valid over the course of my 15 years of experience with this game, with proven success at all levels of the game. There are several things to think about when designing a warrior. First is fighting style. Second is longevity. Third is weapon suitability. Fourth is physical capabilities. Fifth is trainability. While I will discuss these separately in this article, they must be thought about simultaneously in order to get the maximum potential from each and every roll-up. Fighting style is the most important decision you'll make about your new warrior. Consider all possibilities. Sometimes you will need to experiment with the numbers, play around with several different combinations, before picking the best style. The offensive styles are lunging, slashing, striking, aimed blow, and bashing. The defensive styles are total parry, parry riposte, and parry strike. The mixed styles are wall of steel and parry-lunge. The offensive warriors have lots of attack ability and little defense (except lungers). Their key attributes are usually will (for endurance and attack skills) and strength (for damage capability and attack skills). High wit and deftness are also high on the list as they both give a lot of skills, particularly attack skills. [Tip #1: Never design an aimed blow with less than a 21 deftness.] The defensives have lots of defensive ability (particularly parry) but poor attack. Their key attributes are usually will (for damage taking and parry skills) and constitution (for damage taking). Again, extra wit and deftness is highly desirable for the extra skills. [Tip #2: Keep wit as low as possible on scum warriors.] The mixed styles have pretty good attack and pretty good defense, making them among the most formidable warriors in the game. Their key attributes are will (what a surprise!) and whatever gets them to good cut-offs, because mixed styles use defensive and offensive skills with equal effectiveness. If you notice, speed doesn't come up as an important stat for any style, but it is probably best utilized by the offensive styles. I tend to like warriors that will perform well (as opposed to looking good but still losing), so I tend to design a lot of offensive and mixed styles. Longevity is another design concern. The main decision here is whether your new warrior will have a long, Gateway oriented career, or have a shorter life span. If shorter, how much shorter? In general, for maximum learning and maximum training, you'll want to add as much as possible to wit and will. If you envision Gateway god- hood in your warrior's future, then designing him with a low wit or will has only a minor effect; it merely takes a little longer for him to reach his full potential. If your warrior has a sandbagging champions future, then you'll want to add as much wit as possible to get him competitive as soon as possible. For an ADM title shot, you'll want to build in some easy stat trains that give lots of skills. For a short, rookies or novices oriented career, you'll probably want a high will because you'll most likely be looking for quick, significant stat trains. The point is, decide when the warrior is born how long his career will be, and you will be better able to maximize his potential towards that ultimate target. Weapon suitability must also be considered. As is well known, not all weapons are well-suited to all styles, and every warrior has a favorite weapon. It is important to design a warrior so he will be able to use the significant weapons well- suited to his style. It should not take more than a couple stat trains to get your warrior well-suited to some good weapons. (Consult available charts for weapon suitability.) I feel that it is important to be well suited to several weapons of your style. This gives you the opportunity to change and surprise your foes. If your warrior lacks the attributes to use key weapons of his style, his effectiveness will be diminished. Physical capabilities is an often overlooked aspect of warrior design. The three main areas of concern are endurance, the ability to inflict damage, and the ability to take damage. At least one of these should be at the "good" level or above, and the more the better. There is usually a trade-off between designing for skills and designing for physical attributes. The trick is to maximize both. Always evaluate the possibility of adding to strength over deftness. The damage capability gained will usually out-weigh the difference in skills. Endurance is usually a key factor in an offensive warrior's ability to defeat a defensive. Conversely, the ability to take damage is usually a key factor in a defensive warrior's ability to defeat an offensive. Again, use the available charts to design your warrior to reach the desired physical levels with a minimum of stat trains. The fastest way for a new warrior to improve is to learn skills with a 21 wit. With a 21 wit, you can usually average three skills per fight for your first 20 fights or so. Going into an adepts tournament with 60+ skills is very good. The higher the wit, the more skills your warrior will learn, so keep this in mind when designing your potential tournament champions. A number of managers advocate early stat trains that burn skills. I only do this in the most severe of cases, like a 3 wit scummy warrior. The main reason I don't do this is because any warrior I want to fight beyond novices is going to need as many skills as he can get. In addition, if a warrior burns skills early, he'll end up with less than his contemporaries at the time they both max skills. This leads to diminished skill levels when the warrior makes a TC run in the Freshmen, ADM, or Eligibles class, and to a protracted struggle to get the warrior inducted to Primus/Gateway when the time comes. It also eliminates the option to sandbag in the champions since your burned warrior will never have the skills to compete with non- burned warriors. However, I do design for trainability. I like my warriors to have a shot at a TC in the ADM or Eligibles class, so I will purposely leave deftness at 9, counting on the quick, easy trains once all my skills are learned. You can do the same in wit, will, speed, and even strength; leave the starting stat a couple points below a level with significant skills, then train those stats when you make your TC run. Of course, since you're planning on making this training run in Advanced Duelmasters, the best stat for trainability is a 21. Every train past 21 will give you quick, significant, valuable skills. Of course, any set of design rules or guidelines will have its exceptions. There are many good warriors out there who did not follow any of the rules outlined above, but there are many, many more dead ones. So, if you follow these rules most of the time, most of your warriors will be winners. That said, let's do a couple examples. First, we'll redesign the legendary Broke Stroker. ST 10 + 0 = 10 CN 10 + 0 = 10 SZ 10 WT 9 + 6 = 15 WL 9 + 6 = 15 SP 11 + 0 = 11 DF 11 + 2 = 13 Style: Lunger Comments: His wit and will are high enough to make him a viable long-term warrior. He starts well-suited to the short spear, and is only one strength train away from longsword suitability. He's got enough con to take a hit, and he'll likely also get good damage with his first strength train, if not on the original overview. ST 5 + 4 = 9 CN 8 + 0 = 8 SZ 14 WT 8 + 5 = 13 WL 13 + 4 = 17 SP 10 + 0 = 10 DF 12 + 1 = 13 Style: Slasher Comments: He starts well-suited to scimitar, and has enough ST, CN, & WL to get normal endurance. He has a good shot at good damage to start with, and if not, it's only a train or two away. ST 12 + 5 = 17 CN 8 + 1 = 9 SZ 7 WT 11 + 6 = 17 WL 8 + 1 = 9 SP 14 + 0 = 14 DF 10 + 1 = 11 Style: Striker Comments: This low will wonder needs help to get normal endurance, thus the high strength. It gives the additional bonus of guaranteeing good damage on a relatively small warrior. The 11 deftness gives him suitability to almost every weapon. Now it's time for you to go forth and design your own godlings (or is that "doglings"?). Armed with these guidelines, you too can have your share of Broke Strokers in Advanced Duelmasters. Good luck, and may the gods guide your blows straight and true! -- Neon Necromancer (DM 1: Care Less Bears; DM 18: Mad Scientists; other random teams and 100ish ADM warriors)